2009 R21-EC Bow Thruster Click

[ameyer97]

2009 Ranger 21 EC with Yanmar - when I turn on the battery switch for the thruster I get a loud click from the relay - a few seconds later it starts clicking on and off by its self every 5 seconds or so. When I move the control left or right it will usually do nothing, except sometimes it will click when I move the lever in addition to random clicking by its self.

Could this be a bad solenoid? I cleaned all terminals and contacts with wire brush and battery cleaner but it didn't do much.

Also, I cannot physically spin the bow thruster propeller with my hand - should I be able to?

Appreciate any insight.

 

[Newf]

Not sure what your issue would be but you should definitely be able to spin the prop by hand.

 

[knotflying]

You should be able to spin the prop. However if it was severely stuck I would suspect the fuse would blow, You may have two problems going on. I would probably remove the motor and then see if the prop turns. Then see if motor spins when not attached to shaft. If you have the same symptoms then go through the troubleshooting guide,

 

[Capt’nKarl]

Make sure your battery is good. These motors require a lot of amps to run. You also might have dirty brushes in the thruster motor. It’s easy to remove the motor from the boat so you can inspect and clean or replace the brushes. I did it in my 2009 21-EC. Let us know what you found to fix the problem.

 

[batate]

The trouble shooting guides are excellent. I would also talk to customer support. They were fantastic for me, even though the eventual remedy was to replace the thruster motor due to water intrusion. I was able to eliminate all of the other problems.

Personally? I would start with the physical symptoms. I would pull the motor to see if the shear pin is intact. I might replace the pin anyway while you're in there. Then I would lay eyes on the prop to make sure there's no growth in the tube, and only then go through the electrical steps to engage the motor via jumping the wires as they tell you in the trouble shooting guide.